Adelaide is pioneering the resurgence of cycling in Australia, due in no small part to the outstanding success of hosting the Tour Down Under, a UCI WorldTour professional race.

So, now the new mayor has joined the Premier in trotting out grand statements. Adelaide is, no less, "pioneering the resurgence of cycling in Australia". Wow, I wonder when my home state is going to exhibit the effects of this new resurgence. Perhaps we haven't got the email yet.

And leading the world too...

His city aspires to be the best cycling city in the Southern Hemisphere, with its Mediterranean climate, wide flat roads and ever-expanding network of cycling lanes.

I think it will need substantially more than talking at conferences and pledging modest sums of money Mr Mayor.

The projects total $70,000 and are part of the State Bicycle Fund and State Black Spot programs for 2011/2012.

A bit of dual use path made of asphalt comes in at between $50,000 and $100,000 per km. So I trust that he is not going to blow the lot on a kilometer of path. I therefore assume that his commitment to making South Oz the Cycling Capital of the Southern Hemisphere" is about $70,000 worth of lines painted on the road. Or maybe some tickets to the opera for Lance and his friends.

I am not South Oz but I go there more than any other state and am planning to do so a whole lot more regulalrly when I retire in a couple of years. So of all the places in Australia other than my own home, South Oz is where I most want good stuff. Where I want to have some company when I am out and about.

So, is there anything real on the horizon? More than a (wow!) 50km Heritage Trail

More than a lines painted on the roads?

More than a UCI Pro Tour? (Partial tour, actually. There are no time trials 'cos no-one thinks it's worth the effort to bring the extra bikes).

More than a visit from Lance Armstrong? (Hmmm, I don't expect that balloon to be flown anymore.)

Or is this guy just following on from the vacuous grandstanding of the Premier?

Pollies keep talking grandly. The riding community now have to press and push and embarrass. Or at the very least tell them to stop patronizing the cycling community.

(I think it is also disrespectful of the real efforts and the runs on the board elsewhere in Oz. Melbourne which looks to outsiders to have a highly vibrant and active cycling community. Canberra with bike racks on most of it's bus fleet and constant praise from others. Clover Moore taking genuine political hits for cyclists, Mundabiddi Trail (1100kms!), ...)

Yeah, talk is cheap. We had the Premier (I think) raving on about Melbourne being a cycling city at the same time as they reduced funding for cycling facilities to zero. They might talk a lot about this but their actions show their real attitude, they couldn't care less.

DavidS wrote:Yeah, talk is cheap. We had the Premier (I think) raving on about Melbourne being a cycling city at the same time as they reduced funding for cycling facilities to zero. They might talk a lot about this but their actions show their real attitude, they couldn't care less.

DS

Yeah - I read about that - The total budget of $40m was lost as I recall. (Though us in some cities would have been delirious to have HAD $40m in the first place. And I gather that there was at least a loud enough and embarrassing enough noise made to compel them to revisit it.

In all seriousness, it's not until we get those self indulging lunatics in 'the House' to get out there and ride to work that we will get something done on the ridiculous state of affairs that are afforded cyclists.

The Adelaide City Council has recently revealed plans to update parts of the city roads to become more bus and bike serviceable. That's all well and good, however getting to the city in the first place is a lottery. In many places (so many I can't count) the bike lane is considered the very poor cousin to the car. The lanes stop and start like the Kwinana Freeway used to do when the WA Govt did it on the cheap. At least now there is a bike path there that runs from Kwinana to Perth and one along parts of the Roe Hwy (and others). A classic is Salisbury Hwy that has a lane if you want to go to Mawson Lakes or over the bridge to Port Adelaide. Good luck to you if you want to go north or south on Port Wakefield Rd. There is no way that I would be mixing my bike with 80 - 90km/h trucks with no bike lane or something akin to an afterthought constantly littered with debris.

Another one is Seaview Rd in Henley Beach. This is on a very popular training circuit for many riders and still the City of Charles Sturt continue to turn a blind eye on one narrow section with parking on both sides. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that you can change the parking to one side, with an angle and still fit a 2-way bike path on the other side (or at least cycling lanes).

A classic was in the local rag a few weeks ago where the Norwood Council (NPSPC) were talking about closing in a 2km section of road and giving cyclists the right of way. All that is going to do is get people's back up. You still have to cross a major road at the end of each section (2x) and, once again, little thought to where to go at the end of the road. Let's face it, it's never going to be The Netherlands. We all love our cars too much and it is too easy to jump in it an go. Adelaide City Council has got it right in their thought process (finally) and is constricting the flexibility of the car to give over to public transport and cycling.

Unfortunately it's going to take someone getting seriously hurt on some of these roads/routes to have these people sit up and take notice. It should be mandatory to follow the 5 P's when making these calls.

$40m would be fantastic, so would $5m, especially when we're spending so much on a short section of elevated concrete racetrack to 'de-bottleneck' South Rd.

LM Yarwood is a genuine and nice bloke, and I'm sure his heart is in the right place with his ideas. At least he's talking it up and raising the issue instead of whining negatively like the rest of the advocate types who frequent the adelaide cyclist forum.

BRLVR.v2 wrote:LM Yarwood is a genuine and nice bloke, and I'm sure his heart is in the right place with his ideas. At least he's talking it up and raising the issue instead of whining negatively like the rest of the advocate types who frequent the adelaide cyclist forum.

Ouch. Mind you, at least Brissy has a much more expensive patchwork of disorganised bikeways worth hundreds of millions which is a lot better than nothing.

BRLVR.v2 wrote:LM Yarwood is a genuine and nice bloke, and I'm sure his heart is in the right place with his ideas. At least he's talking it up and raising the issue instead of whining negatively like the rest of the advocate types who frequent the adelaide cyclist forum.

I agree. I did give him credit once before (in the local rag again) for supporting cycling. As I said then, I'd like councils to talk to commuter and regular cyclists before coming out with this stuff. It's great to have a vision, having a sensible plan to get to that vision is just as important. I believe that bit is missing.

ACC tried a Dutch style bike lane in Adelaide on Sturt St a few years ago. It failed because there wasn't enough forethought of the impacts prior to implementation. Once again, good intentions, missing the 5P's (including the correct road). King William St would have been a better option, past Vic Square or down the Hutt St death trap.

Having just returned from a trip to Perth I noticed things have changed a lot for the better! I grew up there and used to ride a lot and it was almost all on the road. Now it is quite easy to stay off the road and mostly very good paths. None of the bike lane crap we have here. Two things I really noticed was lots of people who were on casual bikes, not sure if that is the right term, who just seemed to be out for a ride or getting a coffee, going to shops etc. The other thing was a lot of people getting around with no helmets.It was really nice to ride for 40km with only a few of those on the road and to not have to battle traffic, except other bikes.

The downside for me was the signposting, having been a resident I still got lost. I didn't mind as it was a chance to see what had changed but would be good for other out of towers. Also following the freeway to the city and trying to get to riverside drive or somewhere there, could not find a way.

Anyways, I have a laugh when I read about Adelaide being the cycling capital or whatever it is they like to brag about, a painted line on a road is not cycling friendly.Have a look at other states....

bookworm1707 wrote:Having just returned from a trip to Perth I noticed things have changed a lot for the better! I grew up there and used to ride a lot and it was almost all on the road. Now it is quite easy to stay off the road and mostly very good paths. None of the bike lane crap we have here. Two things I really noticed was lots of people who were on casual bikes, not sure if that is the right term, who just seemed to be out for a ride or getting a coffee, going to shops etc. The other thing was a lot of people getting around with no helmets.It was really nice to ride for 40km with only a few of those on the road and to not have to battle traffic, except other bikes.

The downside for me was the signposting, having been a resident I still got lost. I didn't mind as it was a chance to see what had changed but would be good for other out of towers. Also following the freeway to the city and trying to get to riverside drive or somewhere there, could not find a way.

Anyways, I have a laugh when I read about Adelaide being the cycling capital or whatever it is they like to brag about, a painted line on a road is not cycling friendly.Have a look at other states....

Flattering and I think Perth is pretty good off a low base (as are all cities) . But some mitigating comment:

There are lots of places In Perth where traffic separation is not so good - WHere I am withina dozen km of the CBD to the south it is pretty good and gettign better. But north of the river I am led to believe is rather complicated getting to and from the city as far as mixing with traffic. And travelling east-west , IMO, is generally nowhere near as good as North-South near the freeways. Lotsa use of te railway reserve seems to work though.

In recent years the funding seems to have dropped off - we are now waiting for the government to act on the recent Draft Bike Plan for the next ten years (or was it 20?). It adds around $13m per annum in grants (again from memory).

The "casual" bikes aka dutch bikes - in some areas they are quite common - Freo for example. But where I ride to and from work I would guess that at least half are high-priced high-spec bikes with hardly a panneri or a basket among them. I do lots of local errands and I tend to be fairly lonely.

One idea I'd like to see adopted is the recomended End-of-Trip faciities in the CBD for those who do not have showers and lockers and bike storage at work. If that gets up I am sure that there will be a few thousand very appreciative wannabe riders. However, like a all things, it needs a committment from government. Croweaters are not the only ones who need to be vigilant against government not venturing beyond talk-the-talk.

I was staying in Wembley, I had less than 1km of road riding to get me to the city, when I went North almost to Joondalup before I broke a spoke and turned back there was maybe 3km on road and they were back roads. Thats on a 30km round trip. From what I could tell the cycle paths ran along reid Hwy, the Freo rail line and others. I didnt use them so not sure how well they work.

I grew up in the hills and rode to school in perth, the last 500m was on a path out of 20km. I used to ride from the hills to the city then way north, no paths at all. Seems like a much larger percentage is now able to be ridden on paths.

The reference to casual bike was more about people who were out for a ride that replaced a car journey but not in a rush and probably not work. No lycra, step throughs and cheap mountain bikes, that sort of thing. Was great to see and it seems to me that shows that what they are doing is working.

I think it comes down to money, Perth had a lot, not sure how the future is going with ore prices but they will pick up again. Adelaide seems pretty much broke. I find the two places interesting, similar layouts, used to be similar populations. So much potential here in Adelaide, just need the cash it seems?

bookworm1707 wrote:Adelaide seems pretty much broke. I find the two places interesting, similar layouts, used to be similar populations. So much potential here in Adelaide, just need the cash it seems?

My first impressions of Adelaide was that it was similr to Perth. But that was back thirty years or more ago.

The much touted similarity is overstated imo. It is also predicated on a wide belief on similar populations when both have been diverging for thirty years when Perth went past Adelaide.

Now, an alternate assessment (qualification - some of the detail in this wil have chaged in the five or tenyears since I had any demographic function), I make the following observations:

Adelaide tall building are almost non-existent (a couple just over 100m and one built in 1988 that is 135m (I stayed there once and saw "Offcer and a Gentleman - great movies). But the fact of little new building construction is the more salient point. On the other hand Perth has about a dozen over 100m, mostly built in the last twenty years and still going up. Many are in excess of 200m and three or four being double the height of the lonely and aging 135m Adelaide structure.

On the more relevant RATE of growth I'd equate Perth to other cities first. Growth rate is a large determinent of the feel of a city. (Look at the housing crisis we have in Perth.)

As far as the population numbers are concerned, Adelaided Population is roughly what Perths was about 20 years earlier. Using population as a guide it would be fairer to say that Adelaide is like Perth was in 1995. However, I reckon the focus on population as an indicator is not bvery useful anyway. (Even if the populations were as equal as many seem to think).

Both states, from memory, share similar ration of capital city to regional population. Weather is extremely similar. But then Manduarh, an hour south of Perth, is just as similar. Mandurah is hardly Perth and Perth is hardly Mandurah.

Money is the BIG factor - the much touted "dual speed economy, "haves and have nots" and so forth are all part of the not so good prospects for my state. Money, yes. Lack of t does not help in developing cycle infrastructure. But also,hopefully, a less economically stratified society in South Oz than what seems to be happening in my own state.

I still like the climate. Wandering around Henley beach. The beer as long as it is not Southwark. The Clare Valley. Victor Harbor and Goolwa.And I am hoping in a few years to be sailing from Adelaide to Kanagaroo Island with my brother.

The recent Census numbers on mode of getting to work indicate that the only mainland capital city where it dropped over the term was Adelaide. Hard to see how the Mayor's resurgence is being led from Adelaide.

I was very surprised about the fall. And even more I had not realised how much cycling was the domain of Adelaide thirty years ago, the sorts of numbers that nationally would be amazing.

The premier seems to have mostly made an effort to make South Australia "the media release capital of the world" rather than his pretensions for cycling. Pls don't let the Mayor do the same.

From what I have read the Mayor does seem to be hold the issue close to his heart.

As a sidebar I was also surprised to see public transport also deviating from national trend.

It would be interesting to see the spread geographically over the metro area. For instance, my work in the city varies between 15-20% cycling (winter - summer) and is slowly growing. There simply aren't enough bike parks during summer. Other locations outside the CBD would have a very different demographic.

It would also be interesting to look back to the 30's and 40's when the car wasn't the primary mode of transport.

Urban sprawl and cheap petroleum products must have much to do with a lot of these statistics.

I suspect that the dip in public transport for South Australia is because they have been shutting down large chunks of the rail network over the last two years as they perform overdue track maintenance and prepare for electrification. Many people I work with who used a combination of bike and train now drive to work as a result which is sad.

Biffidus wrote:I suspect that the dip in public transport for South Australia is because they have been shutting down large chunks of the rail network over the last two years as they perform overdue track maintenance and prepare for electrification. Many people I work with who used a combination of bike and train now drive to work as a result which is sad.

That would do it. There are only so many that can be accomodated by extra buses.

If WA's electrification is anything to go by they increased total passengers on 7M pa to 30Mpa in the interval from 1992 to 1997. As a covenient baseline, in the same period Adelaides usage was stationary at 7M.We also added track to a significant extra and there was a lot of attention given to bus routes and timetables in a holistic approach.

It costs a lot of money so hopefully and probably Adelaide will be rewarded with similar outcomes. Expect an increase in usage and a better passenger experience.